ALOR SETAR: Ten students of Sekolah Kebangsaan Gunong in Gunung Keriang near here were injured, two of them seriously, when the floor of their classroom collapsed yesterday.
The incident occurred about 11am when the students, among a class of 30 Standard Four pupils, were having Islamic Education lesson. The floor suddenly collapsed below their feet, bringing them down into a sinkhole of about a metre deep.
The injured students, comprising five boys and five girls, were sent to Sultanah Bahiyah Hospital here for treatment.
One of the students, Mohd Aliff Hakim Abu Bakar, said they were having an Islamic Education class when the floor suddenly collapsed and he found himself in a hole.
“I crawled to safety and my religious teacher pulled me out. I injured my right leg,” he said when met at the hospital.
Filza Nadhirah Idris, who also injured her right leg, said she felt the classroom shook and then felt herself falling into a hole.
“I fell with my face down. My left knee was injured. I cried and the teacher carried me out of the hole,” she added.
According to a villager Ali Mohammad, 49, who was at the school when the incident happened, the school was built in the 1970s and the building initially had a wooden flooring.
He said it was about eight years ago that the raised wooden floor was replaced with a cement floor.
Acting officer-in-charge of the Alor Setar Fire and Rescue station, Md Noor Daud, said 17 firemen from the Alor Setar and Jalan Raja stations rushed to the scene after receiving a call at 11.22am.
Chairman of the Kedah Federation of Peninsular Malay Students (GPMS) Zuraidi Rahim visited the injured students at the hospital. — Bernama